Cheryl's Window

Window Box Frame

2012-01-18T08:06:00.000-05:00

CHA Winter 2012 is coming up soon and I am so excited about this year. It’s a new year for me and I’m looking forward to a fabulous 2012. I am rather nervous too, because I am participating in this years Designer Showcase at CHA. Don’t worry, I’ll take pictures and share my CHA experience with you. You all don’t know how much your support and encouragement means to me. This will be my first time exhibiting and I wanted to create something for my table that would represent me without using a big sign. The Pink Paislee Mistables Wood Shadowbox was the perfect thing for this and is my featured post today on the Tattered Angels Educator Blog.

I started by using Pewter Glimmer Glam and a script stamp to lightly stamp on the frame front before misting with any color. I wanted this to be a real subtle effect, so you can barely see the scrip peaking out of the mist on the frame front there. In one spot, it may not look like much, but it gave a great overall depth to the entire piece.

I’m learning that color is all about layers to create depth, so I started by misting the whole box with a light coat of Route 66 Glimmer Mist. I then randomly misted by pooling the color on the box with Wheat Beer, Valentine Pink, and a little Mallard. The wood accepted the color so nice and evenly. I brushed the flourished frame part of the box and its edges with some Chandelier Glimmer Glam on front and back for a bit more glimmer!

I misted a piece of Pink Paislee Mistables paper with Mallard for the background and wiped off the resist, cut it down to size, and glued it in with Helmar Acid Free Glue. The canvas mat is from Canvas Corp and was misted with Wheat Beer. I used Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to adhere the picture and lace trim to the canvas and to adhere the canvas to the background paper. Pink Paislee foam alphabet letters were used for my name.

Pink Paislee Mistables Fabric Pleat Strip was misted with the Valentine Pink Glimmer Mist and glued to the top of the box with Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive followed by a small strip of grey lace trim and a Prima flower.

Pink Paislee Mistables Chipboard Alphabets were misted with more Mallard and this time glued on with Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots. The ScrapDots gave that extra dimension to allow the letters to pop off the frame. If you look close, you can see it under the L there.

To finish the frame and bring it all together, I wove a Prima flower stem through the scroll part of the frame and fluffed it up. Added a bit of Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive in obscure spots to make sure the flower stem stayed in place.

Hope you liked my project today and that it inspired you to create something. These frames are great for so many things, and while you may not need a tabletop sign, maybe you’d like a sign for your studio or even your laundry room. I can’t wait to make something else with one of these frames.

Authentique–True Grit

2012-01-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

I’m so excited to work with Authentique and Helmar USA together. I absolutely love Authentique’s paper collections and the fact that they have coordinating tags and journal strips as well as alphabets and mini words. I journal with mini words all the time and these are probably my favorite.

I chose to use the Journey Collection for this layout for my Helmar USA Design Team post today. It was not only the perfect color, but had some great tags and journaling strips that were perfectly made for my subject. My hubby competes in the North American Strongman Competitions and this was a great picture I took of his trainer, Tony Montgomery. I love this picture because I happened to catch it at the perfect time and in the perfect light. You can see the determination in his face. This was part of the Atlas Stones lift. This concrete stone weighted 390 lb and yes, he did lift this and place it on the stone loader. I love watching these guys give it their all at the competitions.

When I saw this lovely brushed swirl on this paper, I knew right away that I wanted to play with Helmar Textured Effects on this. I used a fan brush and bushed this directly on the paper and then let it dry.

I love how it maintains each brush stroke. You can also mix this with another paint, ink, glitter, mist, etc, but I kept it plain. I only wanted a slight sheen and the look of brush strokes on the paper without changing anything of the design itself.

I tried to take the picture so that you could see all the bush strokes. It really adds that extra something to the whole layout when you can see it in person.

I used Helmar Acid Free Glue along with various sizes and shapes of Helmar Zap Dots to put this whole page together and give layers of dimension. They come in round and square at 1/4” and 1/2”, and in white, black, or even clear. I used all on this layout. Finally, the layout was finished off with a little Black Soot distress ink around the entire page edge.

PS. Here’s a little tip that many of you know, but it might be a light bulb moment for some of you. Don’t discard the punch-out waste from your ZapDots. Save them and cut them with scissors and use the pieces. They are usually hidden anyway and no one would know. Here you can see I cut off a strip to use on the edges and a piece in the middle. If you use dimensional adhesive behind a larger piece, don’t forget to add some to the center too, if now, your piece might sag just a bit in the center sometimes.

If you haven’t worked with any of the papers from Authentique, you really should see the gorgeous papers and color collections they have. The Helmar USA Team has some amazing projects ready for you this week. And, if you haven’t tried, Helmar Textured Effects, you truly should. It is a fun medium to play with.

Thirsty Artist

2012-01-07T16:45:00.001-05:00

Ok, I thought the title sounded better than ‘Starving Artist’! LOL. This is just a quick post to share a little project I made today. I honestly needed a break from deadline projects and CHA prep, and I’ve been fascinated with the orange and pink color combo lately, so I took a break and did something for fun. This is one of those cups you can design yourself with a picture or paper that was sent to me for Christmas by my scrappin’ buddy, Leslie. I have been waiting for the right thing to inspire me to create something personalized for me.

I used the included template and traced it onto the back of some sticky-back canvas. I cut out the shape and just started painting and stamping. I used some Golden paints as well as some Claudine Hellmuth Studio paints. I also used Ranger Archival Inks and stamps by Studio 490. I truly just played in the paints to create this with no rhyme or reason. I even gave it a top coat of some Cadillac Pink and Pearl Glimmer Mist. It was a good break for me.

I even added a little photo transfer from some 1930-40’s music magazines I picked up last week at the flea market. The feature was patriotic music, so this is a picture of Independence Hall. Again, no reason for adding it except I liked it.

So, now I’m going to go make a drink and get back to work on some deadline projects due.

Thank you, Leslie for my sippy cup!

Love my Helmar Adhesives

2012-01-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

I’m currently designing some mini albums to teach, and I would love to come teach at a location near you. If you would like me to come visit, please click on my profile to the left and send me an email. I’ll be hitting the road next month, and can’t wait to meet some of my online friends in person. I’m also working on creating a page that will showcase the classes I’ll have available, so keep checking in with me.

When I am working on an album, I love that I can always count on Helmar to put the entire album together. Here is a little shabby-chic album I completed. We’ve got paper, doily, flowers, lace, bling, and tag on the cover alone. Probably my favorite adhesive for adhering paper to my albums foundation is Helmar Acid Free Glue . I never have to worry about my papers warping when I use this to glue a paper to my album pieces, even though I had lots of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and Glimmer Glam on my album foundation. It also worked great for my little Prima flowers since they are paper. I used Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to hold down the larger heavier flower and the crochet element as well as the tag hidden in the background. I added just a tiny bit of Helmar Gemstone Glue to secure the crystal and pearl flourish; even though it has an adhesive back, I like to ensure that it won’t fall off since my albums are handled quite a bit. The Helmar Gemstone Glue ensures that the bling stays put and since it dries clear, my bling doesn’t lose any shine!

Here are a few elements from inside the album:

Helmar Zap Dots help provide a little extra dimension in any project and adds such character to a mini album - and if you only put it on three corners, you can usually slip a picture or another element behind it later as you work on your album.

Again, Helmar Zap Dots to give dimension to an element. Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive is my go-to whenever I work with lace, fabric, or trim.

Look at all the lovely page elements inside. This was designed using a fabulous album from Basically Bare. You’ll learn lots of techniques for working with Tattered Angels products with this one.

Finally, I am continuously looking for anywhere to use Helmar Scrap Dots. Of course, this is saved for last since it takes a little while for this to dry, but it is so worth it. I love that you can give as much or as little dimension as you want. Here, I added a smaller bit towards the bottom and a bigger dollop right towards the top so that the cut flower bloom appears to be coming up out of the paper.

I’ve learned over time that there isn’t ONE be-all adhesive for everything and now I understand that. Each type of adhesive has a different function and/or composition. Sometimes you need a glue that dries FAST and will hold something down before you let go. Other times, you need an adhesive that will give you just a tiny bit of play; this really helps when working on layers to that you can scooch it over where you want it. Sometimes you want something that dries clear and other times it doesn’t matter. You need an adhesive that won’t warp papers if you work with paper and one that will really hold fabric and canvas if you work with those substrates. Helmar has you covered and has an adhesive for pretty much every application. Are you looking for an adhesive that will perform a specific function? Let us know, I’m sure Helmar can find a solution for you.

Changes are Coming…

2011-12-29T17:58:00.001-05:00

2011 has been a busy and life-changing year for me and I cannot even imagine how fabulous 2012 is going to be. I can share with you now that I have been busy busy busy setting things in place to make 2012 a promising and exciting year for me. Here is a picture of my studio desk today. Huge mess there, but I’m learning to embrace it because that’s just the way I seem to work. I’m working on a mini-album class that I will be teaching. You’ll see that I do watch Hulu while I work or I Skype a lot while in my studio. IPod gets going when I’m really in a groove, but when I’m just creating something new, I watch TV. I’m currently getting caught up on Merlin series.

When I think back on the events that began changing my life this year, I realize that I am truly blessed. Last year I attended my first CHA event in Chicago. It was there that I was inspired to take my passion and make it my career. At that time, I was hoping that I could be a full-time designer in 18-24 months. Well, I can share with you now that I am going to be able to make my dream come true so much earlier than I first thought. When I leave to attend Winter CHA next month, I will be attending as a full-time designer. I will be leaving a job I’ve had for over 12 years to take a chance doing something I truly love. After CHA, I will be traveling and teaching, so I hope to meet many of my internet friends in person. I also will make my blog a greater priority and have more time to update it as well as schedule time to visit with you online too.

Next month, I’ll be attending CHA as a CHA Designer Member under my own business name. I have also decided to break out of my comfort zone and participate with the Designer Showcase at CHA. I’ll be displaying samples of my work for everyone to see. Eeeekk….. Really not sure exactly what I’m doing yet, but I believe that sometimes you just stick your neck out there. (my neck is so stretched right now…LOL )

So, I’m quite busy trying to meet deadlines for CHA projects and get my own design career off the ground. I’m designing classes and making time to play with my art. Here is a little sneaky peek of one of my submitted projects soon to be published. And that blurring is on purpose,though you’ll be able to see the whole project soon.

2012 is going to be an awesome year. Are you making plans to make it fabulous for you too?

Happy New Year, my friends.

Live in Full Color

2011-12-15T08:28:00.001-05:00

And with the help of Faber-Castell products, this is so possible. I was EXTREMELY excited to receive Faber-Castell goodies with my Helmar DT package. I have been a big fan of Faber-Castell in my mixed media projects for the last year. They now make color Mix & Match sets which have different mediums in the same color range and make it so easy to grab and go for a project.

I decided to challenge myself for this project and use almost exclusively Faber-Castell mediums on my mixed media canvas. (I usually have various types of paints an mediums in one project) This is going to be a gift for my little niece, so I wanted something bright, fun, and colorful with a little whimsy.

I started with a plain 8 x 10 canvas board and misted with just a bit of water. I lightly scribbled some Faber-Castell Art Grip Aquarelle pencils to create a light background. Misted a little more water and blended with a paintbrush. These Aquarelle pencils are amazing in that they give you as little or as much pigmented color as you want and they blend so smoothly.

I continued to add light layers scribbling and blending until I achieved desired results.

I decoupaged a little scrap of paper for my title using Live in Color Tags by Susiebee Studios and Helmar Decoupage and Craft Paste.

For a little extra texture, I scraped off some Faber-Castell Gelato onto my craft mat, squeezed out a small bit of gel medium, and mixed with a palette knife.

Using the palette knife, I put a thin layer through a Crafter’s Workshop stencil designed by Balzer Designs. I cleaned my palette knife and used all that lovely Gelato goodness by randomly wiping it on my canvas focusing on the edges.

Faber-Castell PITT Big Brush Pens are great for adding large bold brushstrokes or for coloring a stamp. I used some of the Big Brush Pens to quickly add color to a Stampendous stamp and stamped it onto my canvas. The Big Brush pens are India Ink so they do dry quickly and will, therefore, work even better with smaller, less detailed stamps or with less colors.

I used a white Faber-Castell Gelato to brighten the canvas using some punchinella as a stencil and rubbing in in with my fingers. The Gelatos blend so easily with your fingers. **warning, the colored punchinella will rub off; fortunately, it just added some more color in some places and did not ruin my piece.

For my canvas girl, I used Helmar Decoupage and Craft Paste to glue down some legs cut from an advertisement. I then added sticky-back canvas die-cut with Tim Holtz Sewing Room, and a head stamped onto grungepaper with Studio 490 Art Fit for a Queen. The dress for was doodled with Faber-Castell PITT pens with small nibs. The face was cut out and then colored with Faber-Castell Gelato and Faber-Castell regular brush pens and glued down with Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive. The ribbon is a piece of Maya Road ribbon tied around the waist.

I completed the canvas with various doodles using multiple sizes and multiple colors of Faber-Castell PITT pens and a few rub-ons from my stash.

So, here is another look at the finished project.; lots of color and a little whimsy!

I love the versatility and broad range of products offered by Faber-Castell and that they work well on almost any substrate.

Make sure to join us for the whole week for lots of inspiration using Helmar and Faber-Castell products. I can’t wait to see what the other girls have in store for us.

Tattered Angels Warehouse Sale has been extended!!!

2011-12-14T07:54:00.001-05:00

The Warehouse sale was such a HUGE hit, Wendy decided to extend it for a few more days!!

Dec 20th is just around the corner...better hurry and get your kit now! It would make a great holiday gift for yourself or even for a friend.

Don't miss out on these over stuffed boxes being offered ...
Go to our website www.mytatteredangels.com for more details ...
Use code VWS1111 for free domestic shipping
or use code VWS1111int for a discount on International shipping

I just wanted to take a moment and address some of the comments we've received in regard to the boxes. The description of the sale, is literal.... "Wendy is cleaning house". This was truly a Warehouse/Garage Sale just as it is described. I want valued customers like yourself to be happy with the volume of product you receive in the box. The box contains lots of Vintage Tattered Angel Products, along with other manufacturers products collected from years gone by that we still felt had value to a consumer.

There is an image on our web site to show you an idea of what you would receive and also give you a general feel for what is included in your kit. Some of the products are not "New" packaged product, nor are we saying that they are.

As shown in the image on our website and compared to what you actually receive, these boxes have a amazing value. We included extra products that were not even listed in kit details just because we wanted to give you more bang for your buck. For example two Glimmer Screens are shown in the picture and we send 15+ screens in the largest kit giving it an extra added value of $30.00.

I have addressed the quality of packaging with my staff and have resolved any concerns about future shipments with possible damage to contents. We will certainly replace any item that was damaged, please just submit an image of damaged item so we can view damage and identify the product. We will try to replace with the same item but if its not in stock we will substitute with a similar item.
As for the paper we shipped with the kits, we added these packs as an added value, Please remember this is a warehouse sale and we are a manufacturer and not a retail store, so we sell in bulk. We have an ABUNDANCE of paper in our warehouse that we felt still had a value to a consumer instead of recycling the paper we would just send them in the kits as "give a ways" . If we were going to include them as a selling factor for the kits we would have taken the time to sort 1 sheet per paper and we would have listed the paper as various styles.
Again please accept our apology and know this is our 1st sale and we are learning many things from having this sale.

The "Values" below are based on what the total retail price of the items would be if you had purchased it all separately.

Small Kit Original Retail "Value" $100... your "Garage Sale" price $25
Medium Kit Original Retail "Value" $170... your "Garage Sale" price $50
Large Kit Original Retail "Value" $230... your "Garage Sale" price $75

Thank you from Tattered Angels!

PS. If you buy a kit, come back and share with me what all you got!

Mini Album Stand

2011-12-06T07:15:00.000-05:00

I am so excited to be sharing my first post as a Tattered Angels Educator. Did you know that the Tattered Angels Educators have a blog dedicated to the TA Educator Team all to teach you about using the entire line of Tattered Angels paints? If not, make sure you check it out for LOTS of inspiration and bookmark the site. Also, don't forget that we are available to teach at your LSS and I'm eager to travel and make new friends. :-)

My first project is a rather simple project, but one I was thrilled to finish. First of all, I’ve had this stand by Kaiser Craft for a long time. Second, I just redesigned my studio and now have a place to display my finished albums and a few works of art, so this was a perfect project for me to start with. And Tattered Angels products work so great on unfinished wood, I just couldn’t resist. Now my actual project is under those albums. You might recognize the first two as albums taught by Stayce DeWid; the holiday one was also a Tattered TV class.

It started out as this plain kit.

I covered it with this wonderful resist paper from Pink Paislee Mistables collection.

Look at the gorgeous resist detail. Yumminess just waiting to happen!

I used Key Lime Pie and Dragonfly Glimmer Mists, Teal High Heels Glimmer Mist Chalkboard, All that Jazz Glimmer Glam, and Tide Pool and Pixie Dust Glimmer Glaze on the entire project.

I traced the wood pieces onto the back of the sheet of paper I chose to use. After all the pieces were traced, I flipped the paper over and misted with the Key Lime Pie and Dragonfly Glimmer Mists. I let it set on the paper for just a minute and then wiped the excess off the resist marks.   After it was dry, I cut out the shapes just slightly smaller than I had traced.
I painted all the raw edges of the wood pieces that would be exposed with All that Jazz Glimmer Glam except the very bottom pieces. This kept the top exposed edges shiny. I then sprayed all the sides and remaining edges with the Glimmer Mist Chalkboard. Even though I knew most would be covered, I wanted to ensure that no bare edges would show anywhere. Plus, it was just fun.
I glued the cut paper shapes to the corresponding wood pieces using Helmar Craft and Hobby PVA Glue. I just brushed this onto the paper with a big paintbrush and the brayered the paper onto the wood.   I love that this glue did not warp my paper and sealed completely with no bubbles or buckling. I have found that if you apply your glue to your paper rather than your substrate, you will have less buckling regardless of how you apply it.
After adhering the paper to the front piece, I stamped a small sentiment from Papertrey Ink Handwritten Notes that reads “simple things…small joys…” with black Archival Ink and then assembled all the pieces. I used a metal frame from Teresa Collins blingage and painted with the two Glimmer Glams. Love that chunky glitter.

Since the bottom base stuck out farther than the front edge, I used Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots to adhere the frame to the front. Since the frame was a piece of heavy metal, I did fold a tiny scrap of paper to use as a shim while it dried. Once dried, it is a solid adhesive fix. I misted some Prima trim with Key Lime Pie Glimmer Mist and painted on some extra Pixie Dust Glimmer Glam and adhered the trim to the sides.

Here is a close up picture without the albums.

A few more angles.

It holds multiple sizes of albums, as you can see.

Now I have a functional album stand comprised of wood, paper, fabric trim, and metal, all colored with all types of Tattered Angels paints. I hope you find some inspiration here. Now go get messy and paint something.

Helmar Holiday Blog Hop

2011-12-03T02:59:00.000-05:00

It’s that time of year where we all start thinking of the holidays so what better way to get your Holiday spirit than a great Helmar Holiday Hop? Filled with so much Holiday cheer and some amazing projects featuring all the different Helmar Adhesives.
Hello everyone and welcome to my stop on the Helmar Holiday Hop. If you have been following along, you should have hopped here from Jen Erikson’s blog. If not, you just have to stop at the Helmar Blog and start from the beginning. There are goodies along the way and we don’t want you to miss a thing.

My project shows you the real strength and versatility of Helmar adhesives, particularly Helmar Premium Craft Glue and Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots. This was inspired by the old-fashion magazine tree. These have been around for a while, you can Google the term to see many versions.

However, I decided to upcycle a stash of Christmas paper, some of which I’ve had for a few years, and make my own ‘magazine’ book. I cut all the papers down to 10 inches wide by 12 inches tall, except for the two I used to create a magazine cover. These two papers were 12 x 12 and scored at 10 and 10 3/8” on one side. My stack of paper was just about 1/4” thick.

I used Helmar Acid Free Glue to glue the two papers together overlapping the scored edges. This paper was single-sided so I used the blank sides for the outsides knowing that I was going to fold each end over. Many of the older papers I had were single-sided and these too were set in stack with pattern side down.

Helmar Premium Craft Glue was the ideal glue to use for this project. I needed a really strong liquid glue, but not one that would dry too very fast for this project. I coated the entire center binding area within the narrow score marks with a squiggle of Helmar Premium Craft Glue. After solidly stacking my paper stack I packed them into my DIY magazine cover. I jogged the papers while in the cover against my desktop in order to get them to pack down as tight as possible against my glue binding.

I used a couple of binder clips to hold my ‘magazine’ in place while it dried.

After leaving it to dry, voila, bound patterned paper.

I folded each page twice towards center and then folded up the bottom. I alternated which side the bottom folded up to on many pages for variety. These little folded pockets really help to hold my cards when finished. Use a bone folder to make your folds sharp.
When all my pages were folded, I had a lovely shaped tree. I added a little Tattered Angels Glam in Twinkle Toes and Big Apple. After drying, I misted randomly with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Gum Drop, Santa Baby, and Jingle Bells. While it was still wet, I sprinkled the tree with Mica flakes for extra glitter. By adding the Glam first, this dries stiffer and creates a resist so that my papers wouldn’t get too soft from the mists.

I didn’t want to add too many ornaments to my tree so that nothing would really interfere with my cards, but I did want a little more bling. I squeezed out a small amount of Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots on my nonstick craft mat and using a pair of tweezers, I dipped each little rhinestone into the Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots. This was thick enough to hold the rhinestone on the edges of the folds to dry and strong enough not to get knocked off once dry.

I used a large bead cap and more Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots for my topper. I filled the bead cap with the Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots and set the bead cap on top. I wanted it to dry so that it would hold my pin topper.

I created my own pin topper with two snow flake brads and an eyepin. I cut the brad posts off the back of the brads and glued them together over pin head using Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive. Once both the base and the pin were dry, I was able to place the pin into the top of my card holder tree.

Here is my card holder tree finished.

And since I haven’t received any Christmas cards yet, I pulled out some of last year’s cards for display purposes. Here is another look in use. I hope you not only found some inspiration, but really see how strong Helmar Glues are and how versatile they can be.

Make sure you leave a comment at every stop because the elves of Helmar will be giving away prizes to some lucky Helmar fans. Now hop on over to Jessica Diedrich’s blog to see another amazing Helmar Holiday project. The Holiday Hop will be open for comments until 11:59P.S.T December 4^th, so take a look and enjoy a little holiday spirit from all of us on the Helmar Team.

Helmar Holiday Hop Blog order just in case you get lost along the way!

Tracy Weinzapfel www.tracywburgos.typepad.com

Rae Cooper http://illbeblessed.blogspot.com/

Connie Mercer http://www.craftygoodies.com/

L. Grace Lauer www.gracesscrapattic.blogspot.com

Michelle Wallace www.theartofscrapbooking.blogspot.com

Angie Blom http://angieblomdesigns.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Evans www.createoften.blogspot.com

Linda Baldock http://atclindab.blogspot.com/

Beck Beattie http://justmebingme.blogspot.com/

GUEST BLOGGER & SPONSOR - Nikki Sivils http://nikkisdoghouse.blogspot.com/

Carolyn King http://myblogbycammie.blogspot.com

Jen Erickson http://shut-up-its-true.blogspot.com/

Cheryl Boglioli www.cherylswindow.com

Jessica Diedrich http://www.thewhimsicalbutterfly.blogspot.com/

Trudy Sjolander http://truesgiftsfromtheheart.blogspot.com/

Carisa Zglobicki http://ladyguineveresinkyfaeries.blogspot.com/

Lydell Quin www.lydellquin.blogspot.com

Natasha Naranjo Aguirre http://www.moments-of-tranquility.com/

Martha Richardson http://themermaidscloset.blogspot.com

Erika Taylor http://taylordconcepts.blogspot.com

Thanks again for stopping by today and Happy Holidays.

I’ll Be Your Bella

2011-12-01T07:20:00.000-05:00

This week is FabScraps week at Helmar and our Helmar Design Team has created some amazing projects. This is my project using papers, charms, and ribbon trim from FabScraps… all put together with Helmar adhesives, of course! This is of my lovely daughter who is a big Twilight fan. She vamped it up for Halloween this year and every time I see this picture, I realize she is not a little girl anymore.

I loved the colors and variation on this one piece of paper, but I knew I’d probably not use this particular image. The colors worked great for the picture of my dear daughter and the makeup she was wearing that day.

I centered the photo as desired and trimmed it down. Love the flourish that sticks out the side! I cut one large circle off the FabScraps ribbon trim to suit my desired layout. I distressed the edges of many of the papers with Walnut Distress Inks. All layered papers were adhered with Helmar Quick-Fix Adhesive Runner.

The lace paper border was diecut with Tim Holtz Tattered Lace die out of FabScraps paper and glued with Helmar Acid Free Glue. I needed a liquid adhesive that would not warp my delicate paper lace and Helmar Acid Free Glue was the perfect choice. Pink Paislee chipboard flourishes are hidden behind the FabScraps ribbon trim and clustered with Prima flowers along with more FabScraps metal embellishments. All of these were glued down with Helmar 450 Quick Dry.

This little ticket is from FabScraps Journal pages and the scalloped ribbon is actually a rub-on runner by FabScraps as well.
FabScraps and Helmar made a great team and helped me make a beautiful layout. Make sure to check out all the great projects using FabScraps and Helmar this week.

Helmar USA, Inc Design Team Member

Tattered Angels Warehouse Sale

2011-11-29T19:50:00.001-05:00

Are you looking for a great deal on some Tattered Angels products? All excessive inventory MUST GO! Go check it out before they sale out. Use code VWS1111 for free shipping. And then share with me what you get and what you make with it!

Mark your Calendar

2011-11-28T22:47:00.001-05:00

Come join us at Helmar this weekend for a fabulous Helmar Holiday Hop. There will be prizes as well as LOTS of holiday inspiration. Trust me, you DO NOT want to miss this!

Are You the Next Helmar Guest Designer?

2011-11-20T14:17:00.001-05:00

If you love Helmar adhesives and would like to be the next Helmar Guest Designer, make sure you click HERE for all the details. It’s a Guest Designer Contest and it ends Nov 30, so don’t delay. We want to see you rock that glue with any type of project. To top it all off, one Lucky Helmar Guest Designer AND one Lucky Facebook Fan will win some wonderful Helmar goodies! I can’t wait to see all the submissions.

I'm a Helmar Girl!

2011-11-11T10:28:00.002-05:00

I am so excited to share that I am now a Helmar girl. I have been on the search for a great adhesive for a while and have found myself continuously reaching for my Helmar products. I have been selected as one of the newest members of the Helmar USA 2011-2012 Design Team.

I cannot express in words my excitement in regards to this opportunity. Congratulations to the entire Helmar Team. I cannot wait to work with you all and get to know you all better.

Thank you to my dedicated followers. Keep watching for lots of fun projects and some upcoming prizes and give-aways.

Fastest Card Ever…

2011-11-01T07:21:00.001-04:00

I do believe this is the fastest card I have ever created. Sage came to me (as she is putting on her makeup to go out) and asked me to please make a birthday card for her friend who she was on her way to meet. I did a quick scan of things out and easily accessible – Papertrey Ink cardstock drawer was open, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists and box of stencils were on my desk, and my Helmar adhesives always on the desktop. The only thing I had to dig out was the stamp and embossing powder and a little Prima bling. I embossed the ribbon with the Happy Birthday sentiment. Embossing that sentiment with white embossing powder took the longest.

I misted the AC white cardstock with Tattered Angels Pop Rocks, Key Lime Pie, and Party Pink Glimmer Mists over a Crafter’s Workshop stencil. Matted this with Papertrey Ink Royal Velvet cardstock to match the PT Royal Velvet Ribbon. This looks so good with TA Pop Rocks. Added the bling and Butterfly from my stash and at the last minute decided to cut out a PaperTrey Ink Tiny tag and misted this with the same colors. Everything was glued with Helmar – Adhesive runner and ZapDots.

Sorry that the picture isn’t the best, but Sage was patiently waiting (not really patiently) for me to hurry up and take the picture so she could go.

So, quick card, quick post. Hope you enjoyed.

I’m Too Excited to Sleep….

2011-10-30T21:55:00.001-04:00

Have you seen that commercial with the little boy getting ready to go to Disney and he’s just too excited to sleep? That’s how I feel right now. Somebody pinch me.

I shared with you a while back that I was setting things in motion to one day be a full-time designer. This weekend, I took a very big step in that direction. I am so excited to announce that I am officially the newest member of the Tattered Angels Educators Team. Over the next few months, I will be working hard to create some fun and original classes. I’ll then be hitting the road and hopefully meeting more of you in person as I share how gorgeous Tattered Angels products are as well as how versatile they can be. In the meantime, you’ll see more of my work here, of course.

I will also be spending some time in the Tattered Angels booth at Winter CHA, so if you are there, PLEASE stop by and say hi.

Make sure to become a fan of Tattered Angels on their Facebook page so you can keep up with the newest products coming soon.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and thank you even more for your continued support and encouragement.

Imagine a Speedy Recovery

2011-10-27T23:36:00.001-04:00

Today I am a guest designer for a forum in the UK called Cricutolics. It’s a place to share ideas and projects that feature using Cricut products. You’ll find members from all over the world there and you just might make a friend from ‘over the pond’, so stop by and visit. Registration is free.

My Cricut Imagine came to my rescue for this project. Due to some growing health concerns, I’ll be having a surgical procedure in about one week and will then be very limited in my movements and productivity for a few weeks. (Now you’ll know why I may be offline for a bit too). I’ve already had a few friends that have offered to help me in a few different ways and fix my family a dinner or two. So, I knew I would be needing some Thank You cards. I also know I’m going to go stir crazy with being limited to moving around. I’ve been trying to think of things I can easily work on from a bed or couch, and something that wouldn’t require a lot of tools.

I was able to print and cut all of these elements on my Cricut Imagine except for the card base and the matted blue card face. I could have done this on the Imagine also, but it was easier to just cut my 8.5 x 11 cardstock in half for my card base. This is using a standard 4.25 x 5.5 card base. The blue matted card front was cut from Papertrey Ink cardstock at 4 1/8 x 5 3/8. I wanted tiny frames.

I used Lori’s Garden for the images and patterns for this card. With so many beautiful images to choose from, I truly think this is my favorite Imagine cartridge.

The patterned paper mat towards the top of my card was cut using the 2:3 ratio rectangle. This image is one of the preinstalled Imagine images. I sized it to 3.5” and filled it with a beautiful blue flowery pattern from Lori’s Garden.

This journaling block was utilized twice throughout my card. Once on the front with the layers combined at 3.5”…

…the second one was used on the inside of my card, but I only wanted one of the layers for the journaling block itself. I love that I can choose to do one image or separate the layers and build it myself. The original relative size for this sun shape was 3.8, but the true size of the journaling block only was 2.9.

After adding all the layers to my queue, I can then go in and individually select and delete the layers I do not want to use.

I chose the Thank You image and selected to use the layers. This was measured at 2.2”. However, I did not want the layer of words, so after adding them all to the queue, I went in and individually deleted the Thank You only layer.

The border shape on the bottom of the card front was selected and measured at 1.3’

For the inside of my card, I used another shaped image from the preinstalled Imagine shapes and again filled it with a pattern from Lori’s Garden. This was sized at 4.2”

I added a little flower shape to use as a flourish on the inside of my card and measured it at 1.2” I kept the layers combined here. One, because it is so small and, two, because I didn’t want the bulk in the inside of my card.

Once everything was added to my queue the way I wanted it, I set up my print job. Because I wanted to be able to make a lot of cards (because you can never have too many thank you cards), I set my art quantity to 9 (the highest it can go) and set my project quantity to 2. That would give me enough to make a total of 18 cards.

Here is my Imagine printing and cutting away. I love that all I have to do is keep loading a piece of white paper. Oh, and I used American Crafts textured cardstock for this project.

So, here are all my supplies cut out and ready to assemble. Since I want to be able to assemble them later, we’ll just put one together for now.

I started by glittering my butterfly. I used just a tiny bit of Helmar Gemstone Glue and painted on the butterfly. I then coated it with Great Impressions Sparkling Ice glitter. The Gemstone Glue dries clear so it is perfect to use with glitter as well as gems. I learned this on the Helmar Ustream class this last week. I then set this off to dry.

To make some of the layers pop off my card a little more, I used Distress Inks to ink the edges. Love these soft colors. I used Broken China and Spun Sugar. I did decide to ink the edges of the sunburst journaling block on the front too, but forgot to take a picture.

To assemble the card, I worked on the card front mat first. I added the patterned paper to the top of the blue mat leaving just a tiny frame around the top and sides.

I then used Helmar tape runner to adhere Hug Snug seam binding to front slightly overlapping the patterned 2:3 rectangle and wrapping around back of blue cardstock. I added the shaped border over the ribbon but butting up to the 2:3 rectangle. The final pink border strip covered this seam.

I layered all the other pieces on my card utilizing Helmar 3D Zap Dots to layer the Thank You images onto the card front. I’ll add the butterfly last.

Before I add the butterfly to the front, I glued down my inner card pieces. The journaling block gives me a nice place to give a personal Thank You. I used Helmar Tape Runner for this too.

The butterfly was attached using my favorite – Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots. This part was done last because this product takes a while to set up. You have to know this in advance. This is not a quick-dry product, but oooohhhh, the dimension can be as little or as much as you want it to be. You apply as much as you want lifting up as you squeeze it out to get the lift. Then you apply it to your finished project and set it somewhere out of the way to dry where you won’t put something on top if it, nor will the cats step on it. (ask me how I know this….)

ScrapDots take about one hour to set up and overnight to cure. Once it is cured, it is dried solid and then you can set something on top of it and it will bounce right back. And it dries clear! I love this, but remember…this is the last step. Save any pieces for this for the very last.

Look at the subtle, yet dramatic, dimension here!

One card is now all finished. I packed all the supplies I’ll need to finish my cards, including A6 envelopes and stamps, into little portable boxes. I can now work on these cards anywhere at any time.

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. I truly hope you’ll try this card for yourself or at least have learned something today that will provide some inspiration for your next project. Think of what a great gift this would be for someone else in a recovery mode.

Don’t forget to visit the Cricutolics Forum and tell them I sent you over to visit.

Thanks for stopping by.

Become a Facebook Fan

2011-10-25T21:02:00.001-04:00

I have set up my blog posts to post updates on my Facebook Fan page for Cheryl’s Window. I would like to have a Fan page dedicated to my design work. If you are a follower, please take a minute to become a Fan and Like Cheryl’s Window Facebook Page. You can click HERE or like this post and become a fan, or always find my badge on my sidebar.

Stay tuned.because I’ll do a give away when I hit 100 Facebook Fans. I’m going to go see what goodies I can put together to make it a great give away. Hmm……

In the meantime, I’ve been attending some great classes at my LSS, A Scrapbook Store & More. Become a follower on her store’s blog so that you can see what great classes we have scheduled and come join us.

Above is a picture with me and Lance from Rusty Pickle. He was so much fun and taught a great class on a mini book. I’m not completely finished with mine yet, but will show you soon.

I also need to get the pictures from my weekend with Stayce Dewid from Tattered Angels. I took a few classes with her a little over a week ago.

Thanks for stopping by,

Fairy Flower

2011-10-23T13:57:00.001-04:00

I am in love with Art Parts by Wendy Vecchi and this form of assemblage art. It is just too much fun taking different parts and using papers, stamps, and inks and creating original works of art.

This was a design I created using her spools and flower Art Parts. I stamped some and covered some of the base pieces in paper before inking them all up. The fairy was a print out from The Graphics Fairy. I printed it out and then glued it down using Helmar Acid Free glue and then did a little fussy cutting to cut her out. I used my distress inks to give a little color and added a little glitter. I added the wings by stamping a Tim Holtz butterfly twice on grungeboard. I cut a little more than half of each so that I could separate them and then glue each half to her back for wings. Some Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots held my fishing line in place so that I could hang her from the wire. I replaced her original wand with a stick pin with some extra bling.

I also stamped some of flower stamps by Studio 490 on grungepaper and cut them out. I inked and shaped these before layering them all together using Helmar 450 to create all the flower dimension on the top. I love how the grungepaper can be shaped and adds such great dimension.

I used a grungeboard tag and inked the outer part with silver alcohol ink for the metallic effect and stamped the inner piece with another stamp from Studio 490. I used some wire to just wrap around the frame. A few inked flourishes, some more little flowers, and some extra bling finished it off.

Have you tried any assemblage art yet?

Thanks for stopping by.

Prima Donnas

2011-10-17T07:57:00.001-04:00

This was a fun page that started with some fun pictures. Sage and two of her half-sisters, Michelle and Jenny, were fooling around and making silly faces together. The pics reminded me of photo booth pictures so I tried to give the page a filmstrip look. Hope they don’t mind their lovely (silly) faces being posted. hee hee

Filmstrip themed paper from Tim Holtz Paperstack became a perfect base for this layout. Inked up a Jenny Bowlin Bingo card as well as a manila tag. This tag actually came from my stash that I cut from some old manila file folders using my Cricut. The reinforcer is from Tim Holtz. The inks were Distress Inks and Donna Salazar’s new Mixed Media inks by Color Box.

I also used some Tattered Angels Glimmer Crème Glimmer Chips and painted them with Island Spring Glimmer Glaze by Tattered Angels. The title was created with AC Rainboot Thickers and Prima Flocked alphabet. I journaled the girls’ names on a piece of Tim Holtz filmstrip. A little ribbon from my stash finished the page. Most of the page is put together using Helmar 450 and/or Helmar Acid Free glue.

Yesterday, I took two classes at my LSS, A Scrapbook Store & More, with Stayce DeWid from Tattered Angels. I had a great time, made two mini albums, and learned even more about working with my overflowing collection of Glimmer Mists. This page above was completed a week ago, but I plan to start using my mists, glams, and glazes more often now that I feel more comfortable using them.

Thanks for stopping by,

MOM–Don’t look yet…

2011-10-13T17:55:00.001-04:00

You and I both know she will anyway, but…..I wanted to share with you a great company, Easy Canvas Prints. They turn your favorite photos into a beautiful canvas piece and make it a very EASY process! This is my Mom’s birthday gift. She’s coming over tomorrow, so she’s going to get her gift a little early, but that way she can also enjoy it on her wall on her birthday.

This was a picture we were able to take this last Thanksgiving. It was the first time in many years that my Mom, Dad, and my other 3 siblings were all together. We were missing a few spouses and a few grandkids due to travel conflicts, but it was still a special time for us. It was so wonderful to have my brothers and sisters together in my home.

When I visited Easy Canvas Prints, the process was simple. Choose a size canvas (I kept this one smaller at 8x10 because of limited wall space at my parents) and then upload your picture. Once your picture is uploaded, you get a preview of how it will look on the canvas size selected. You then select your desired border.

I chose a mirrored border image. I could have just wrapped the image, but I wanted our picture as large as possible on the front. Therefore, I just centered it and mirrored the border. It looks really good and looks like it is a wrapped image. I could have selected a solid color, but I love how this turned out.

After selecting the border, you can then make any other enhancements you would like by editing the color and image effects. For a little extra, Easy Canvas Prints will also make any minor or major color corrections and editing.

Once I placed my order, the printing and shipping was super fast. I had my print in just a few days and it came safely wrapped.

I will definitely use their service again and choose a larger more artistic photo for my own personal wall. I ask that you take a minute and just check them out at Easy Canvas Prints.

Happy Birthday, Mama.

Thanks for stopping by,

A Little Hanger

2011-10-08T12:45:00.001-04:00

I have stalked Wendy Vecchi’s blog, Studio 490, for a long time, but had never had access to her products or taken the time to order some online. I also wasn’t sure about creating these lovely pieces of art on my own Well, after seeing her at Summer CHA and seeing her works actually in person, rather than online, I KNEW I had to get my hands on some of these. My LSS, A Scrapbook Store & More, starting carrying some of the Art Parts and Wendy’s Studio 490 stamps. I’ve now discovered that I LOVE this assemblage art. It was a lot of fun not only building this little hanger, but exploring different inks, paints, stamps, and various techniques to create this. This is just a little thing, about 5 x 6 (ish), but packs a lot in that little space. I used a few Art Parts as well as some grungeboard and grungepaper. Lots of Ranger Distress inks and stains as well as some acrylic pain and some Golden pouring medium. The whole thing was put together with various Helmar adhesives. I used Helmar’s Acid Free glue to adhere the pattern papers to the bases. The trims, art parts, and metal pieces were adhered with Helmar 450. The ink bottle was cracked with Ranger’s Rock Candy and then popped up with Helmar’s Liquid Scrap Dots.

I also had some inspiration from the Everything Wendy Yahoo group I joined. The challenge was to use a small stamp to create a background. I used a small ink label stamp and randomly stamped it across all over my background paper with Brushed Corduroy Distress ink. This challenge was from two weeks ago, but I’ve had some life things happening here and just now was able to post the details. I do hope that since I am slowly growing my collection of Studio 490, I can participate with more of these fabulous challenges. PS. I would love to have a copy of Wendy’s Make Art Books Volume 1 and 2. If anyone has one they want to sell, please let me know because I haven’t been able to find one.

This lovely is temporarily residing at A Scrapbook Store & More, but will have a treasured spot on my wall here in my studio.

Well, I’m off to paint a canvas today from a little sketch I made. Hope you find time to do something you love this weekend.

Thanks for stopping by today,

Featured Friday–HomesCool in my Little Corner

2011-09-23T09:14:00.001-04:00

One of the things I love the MOST about being a part of design teams is the people you meet. I met Nancy while I was a part of Sassy Lil’ Sketches. I have to admit I was immediately drawn to her blog just by her title and her play on words with homes cool. You see, I also homeschooled my daughter from Kindergarten all the way into college. And I am proud to say that we didn’t do too bad here. My daughter will be graduating from Indian River State College next May with an AA degree in English at the age of 18. I LOVED homeschooling and will always treasure that time I had with her. It was a life changing experience for both my husband and myself as well as our daughter.

Anyhow, on to my Featured Friday guest.

Take time to explore Nancy’s blog. She is a very talented lady. I love her compositions and eye for little details. If you pay attention, she also shares some great recipes and tidbits about her life and family. I personally love blogs that share a little bit of themselves.

Nancy’s creativity is limitless. She is always trying something new and is not scared to try something just to see if it works or not.

You have got to click the picture above to see what she does with this pretty little blob. I don’t want to take away from what she did, so I’m just giving you a little peek. Just brilliant and I’m definitely going to try this. I’m now thinking how I could try this with different mediums as well. What would you make with it?

Here I love her bold use of color, and how she found a way to still create a subtle effect. I just adore this piece.

Seriously, take the time to explore her blog. She has lots of techniques and experiments to share with you. You will not be disappointed and I’m sure you will find plenty of inspiration here as I do.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit with me today,

Little Treasures

2011-09-20T16:16:00.001-04:00

Remember the little sculpture head that I shared on Cheryl’s Window Facebook page? Well, I finally attached part of a body to it and finished the project I was working on. This was a gift for a friend of mine (Katie). I tried to add things that I knew would have some meaning to her.

This was a really fun project to complete. The head I was working on became the torso doll that you see in the Tim Holtz Configurations Box. The box was decorated with papers by Riddersholm design that came in a kit from Flying Unicorn and Ideaology tissue tape. After all the paper and tape were added, I used Distress Inks to add some more color and ink it all up. The Ideaology legs were painted, inked, and misted with a little Glimmer Mist. The flourishes were colored with Glimmer Mist and some Glimmer Glaze. I wanted a variegated look and was able to achieve that.

The Flying Unicorn kit also had these mini cards in them. I cut part of the doll’s arm off and added it here to create my “good hand” scene.

See the little bird behind the antiqued cage? T!m Holtz dies and inks for this.

I was able to use some of my own stash as well as go shopping at a quaint little mercantile store here, White City Antique Mercantile. There, I was able to find a complete miniature tea set, which I only used part of for this collection, little tiny mason jars, and a wonderful little sewing machine. TEA was made with scrabble tiles.

Here is the cute little sewing machine. It is actually a little pencil sharpener.

This project was all put together with Helmar Acid Free glue, Helmar 450, and Helmar Scrap Dots. Have I told you lately how much I love my Scrap Dots?

I hope you enjoyed this little configurations box. I sure did.

Featured Friday

2011-09-16T08:45:00.001-04:00

I’ve been thinking of my art and what it means to me and where I find inspiration and motivation. I was also thinking of my blog adventure and purpose of my blog. Yes, I love to hear a kind word of encouragement, but I truly love to share my work in hopes that you will also find inspiration. I am learning to see art and inspiration around me wherever I am and whatever I’m doing. Some days are easier than others.

One place I find a lot of my inspiration is here in blog land with you. I really didn’t want my blog to be all about me all the time, so I have decided to start sharing works that I find inspiring and make these my Featured Friday post.

My first FEATURED FRIDAY is going to be my dear friend, Katie and her blog Running with Scissors, Spatulas, and Sneakers. Yep, I’m playing favorites first, but I have good reason. #1) Yesterday was her birthday. #2) I have always loved her designs and her work. She consistently puts out fabulous cards and stunning layouts. She is and has been a dedicated member to many design teams, I LOVE her clean, spunky, and sassy style that comes across all her works. #3) She is my scrapping buddy. I get more done being able to Skype and scrap with her rather than sitting here by myself. #4 and most important) Katie is my biggest supporter and greatest encourager. She always leaves loving comments on my blog, even though she usually saw my work on the webcam previously. She continues to motivate me and push me when I honestly don’t feel like it and she encourages my dreams. Katie has been my great friend since our daughters were in preschool together, so she probable knows me better than anyone else right now. She knows when to give me space and when to tell me like it is.

Here is a beautiful and simple card that she recently created.

I love how she used only cardstock to create this visually stunning card. I am going to dust off my embossing folders and try this. Now, pop over to her blog and see her awesome work.

Thanks for stopping by today. Make sure to keep checking back. Maybe your work will show up next Friday as you never know what has inspired me throughout the week.

Practical Scrappers

2011-09-15T09:58:00.001-04:00

I found a great little place for inspiration. Practical Scrappers is a fun site with some really great designers and all kinds of projects; layouts, cards, altered art, etc. Today they are featuring those yummy Authentique Papers. They even have a way for you to win some of this paper too. Make sure you hop on over there and read their post and submit for your chance to win. This one is an easy one!!! Oh, and while you are there at Practical Scrappers, check out my card that is featured in the Blissful collection. This is the same card I entered in the Authentique Blog sketch Challenge.

You don’t want to miss out on this chance.

Thanks for stopping by today,

Be and love being…

2011-09-14T11:56:00.001-04:00

For those of you that have been following my progress on my Cheryl’s Window Facebook page, here is my finished art. If you are not a fan yet, please visit me with the link just above or on the left sidebar here.

This started as a piece of 12 x 6 wood that my DH cut for me. I gessoed the wood and added some papers and then started painting. I was quite proud of myself because this was all drawn free hand. Not perfect, but I never expected it or wanted it to be.

I loved the serene look on her face. I also was so excited to find the perfect phrase yesterday on a card my dear friend, Katie, was sharing with me. I only used part of the sentiment. It was perfect to not only compliment my state of current mind and her serene expression, but also went with the picture of the bee that was showing through on her blouse. All the trim and her hair flower were glued down using my favorite Helmar 450 glue. I don’t have to worry about it coming off or showing through.

I added some glass beads and some pearl paint for texture and shimmer for on wings.

And look, I’ve even been saving some of my Cricut cut negatives for stencils. This stencil was from some clouds I had cut out for a previous projects and I just layered some modeling paste with a palette knife for the extra bits of dimension.

And, isn’t this easel gorgeous? My dear sister gave it to me. I don’t have a permanent home in my house for it yet because it is quite large, but I will treasure it. Now, I think I need to create a bit larger canvas, don’t you?

Thanks for stopping by to visit with me today.

New Wires are old wires

2011-09-12T14:05:00.001-04:00

Here is a layout I put together last week. I was so proud of myself ,because it usually takes me FOREVER to create a layout. I ponder the colors, the paper, the embellishments, and every little detail before I ever get anything done and actually on a page. I had this layout finished in about 30 minutes Part of my success was having all my pictures now organized and ready to go in a layout. I am so thankful for my Finding Photo Freedom Class. Still struggling with finding JUST the right papers and embellies for a layout, but pictures are ready to go.

The sad part is that I’m so far behind, my dear daughter already has her braces off! I need to scrap the comparison next. At least this one is going in her album. I am glad that I can scrap by mood rather than only chronologically.

I added the extra bling here on the stars. Thought it was quite fitting for a layout about braces. Used my Scraphappy Sheer glue from The Rubber Café to hold them onto the ribbon; even though they are self-adhesive, they never stick on more than paper in Florida heat and humidity and this sheer glue sticks for sure.

I even added a little stamping action. These circles just screamed for a little something extra. I added some other green gear stamps on the page too and a little more distress ink blending here and there around the page in various spots. Nothing too fancy, but a layout complete!

Thanks for stopping by,

Cream of the Crop

2011-09-10T12:06:00.001-04:00

WooHoo! Remember the card from earlier this week posted HERE? I was voted Cream of the Crop with this card below at Crop Stop blog. Thank you so much.

Check out my new badge to the left sidebar and go visit not only the Crop Stop Blog, but their online store at Crop Stop also.

It’s great to be actively creating and being able to upload my projects and submit them again. Now, I’m off to A Scrapbook Store and More to go play.

Thanks for stopping by,

Joy is a Flower…

2011-09-09T23:08:00.001-04:00

We got some of the new papers from Authentique in our LSS, A Scrapbook Store & More and I HAD to have some. I picked up some of the 6 x 6 packs and some embellies. After playing with the paper, I’m definitely going to have to get some 12 x 12 too (even though I don’t need any more paper right now). When I saw that Authentique Blog is having their first Challenge, I wanted to play along, so here is the card I created for the first Sketch Challenge.

This is the card sketch. There is a layout sketch too, so make sure to check it out HERE. You have until the 14th to enter your submission for some gorgeous Authentique papers.

I used papers from Authentique Blissful 6x6 Bundle as well as some two-sided elements from the same collection. I also used some yellow , pink, and black cardstock from Papertrey Ink, some lace and ric-rac trim from my stash, and some Pink Paislee Mistables Scallop Ribbon. I misted the ribbon with Glimmer mist in Lemon Zest and folded it into a flower. I also used my Scrap Happy Sheer glue from The Rubber Café to add glitter to the cardstock bee in the center of the flower. I love this glue for adding glitter. I also used the same glue to adhere my ribbon and trim by drawing a fine line and letting it dry until tacky. Holds ribbon for good and doesn’t show any glue seepage is you let it dry to tacky before adhering the ribbon. Finished the card with a stitch rubon from Daisy D’s (have had this forever and forgot I had it)

Here is a close-up of the folded misted flower and the glitter cardstock embellishment.

And a closer peek at the sentiment cardstock element. I also added a little Viva Pearl paint in yellow to the yellow flowers on this sentiment piece.

Love this paper collection. It also comes with petite sticker letters, which I LOVE lately.

Thanks for stopping by today. Let me know if you enter the sketch challenge too.

Pay Them No Mind

2011-09-08T23:42:00.001-04:00

Quick card today. The tag reads, “Enjoy Yourself and Pay Them No Mind”. Just loved that phrase. I finished this card a few weeks ago, but didn’t get to share until now. I made it for my friend, Susan’s, birthday. And I never mailed it because we were supposed to get together and one thing after another kept happening for all of us. We finally got a chance to go out for dinner tonight and I was able to give her my card in person.

It was great to go out with girlfriends and just talk and laugh together. We keep saying that we need to make time for that more often, but….

Here is a pic of Susan and I. I added a filter to the photo, so don’t panic girls, I’ll send you a photo without the filter!

And Jackie was sitting across from us. I should have had someone take a picture of us all three together.

Until next time, thanks for stopping by,

Challenge #35 at Crop Stop

2011-09-07T18:18:00.001-04:00

Crop Stop Challenge Blog put up a great sketch by Gloria and I decided to play along this month. This was a totally fun card, because I made it just for fun and played with different techniques to get this look. It came out nothing like what I imagined when I started it and I love way it came out.

The challenge was to use this sketch template.

I used Tim Holtz Kraft Resist Paper Stash and Papertrey Ink cardstock for my card base. Spellbinders Grand Label 1 was used to create my card shape. I used Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink on the Kraft resist paper. I also used some yummy stamps from The Rubber Café called Vintage Treasures.

I used Sparkle and Sprinkle EP (some of my fav EP and glitters) on some grungeboard for my main element. I tried to get creative and used two different colors so that the center phrase was more prominent. I then inked up the grungeboard with a little Blue Jeans and Sapphire Distress Inks. Topped this with a 7 Gypsies Transparency ATC card wrapped with twine from The Twinery.

Used Helmar 450 and Helmar ScrapDots to put it all together with some Ideology parts and a scrap of denim. Since I’ve learned to use the ScrapDots last on my project and let it dry, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the dimension I can get. And it will hold some heavy stuff!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Photo Lottery

2011-08-21T12:37:00.001-04:00

I just received a ton of pics from my Dad. (this is not even all of them. These are not for me to keep and I haven’t decided if that is a good thing or a bad thing. What I am going to do with these is #1, get them in better storage. I’ve already started to a degree. All those photos in the white box up front came out of a corrugated cardboard box and a Whitman’s Chocolate box. Many are stored in envelopes that have already been chewed on by some hungry paper/glue bugs. Yuck… Some photos are in some good Pioneer albums (good), while some are I those sticky magnetic album. Paula, I’m going to be needing some more Undu to get these out safely. Some are under a piece of glass. They were originally in frames, but the pictures have now been stuck to the glass. I’m going to try to use Undu on those too, but am open for any suggestions here. I have prints of all sizes as well as negatives. I don’t even know what size these negatives are as they are not 35 mm. The problem is that we don’t even know who most of these people are, they are apparently relatives, but…..

Once I get them all into some better archival quality, I am going to start scanning these and trying to keyword them with any information I do know. I’m looking for a good scanner that will scan prints with a high resolution as well as negatives. Do you have any recommendations? We’re going to try to visit some elderly relatives with all my pics and see if we can put some names, times, and places with most of them too. This will be an ongoing project for me and I’m excited, but a little overwhelmed as well. These photos are priceless. Looking at them makes me appreciate all the steps I am currently taking to preserve my photos, but also making me realize I need to take more EVERYDAY CANDID shots. I tell myself this all the time, and still haven’t gotten good at that.

I’ll let you know how this bit of my heritage preservation goes.

Art Journal Entry–8/16/2011

2011-08-16T22:53:00.001-04:00

Here is another addition to my PanPastel art journal. I’m continuing to explore the possibilities I can get out of my PanPastels and how they work with other mediums. This incorporated a PanPastel background with stamping (Tim Holtz stamps), some India ink, and a little Perfect Pearls on my butterflies. I love how the PanPastels blend together.

Beloved Canvas Album

2011-08-09T07:33:00.000-04:00

I finally finished my album from the Donna Downey class I recently took. I have to admit that I had so much fun creating this album and putting all the finishing touches on it. I also learned a lot about working with canvas albums and using pictures in canvas albums. I will be making another one of these no doubt. I am learning more about building layers and gaining confidence in adding paint and color and texture to my designs. If you make a mistake, work with it. No one else will really know. In addition to the canvas album and all the embellishments provided with the class kit, I used various inks, paints, and glues. I got messy and it was a blast.

Here are the inside pictures of my album.

I have finally learned how to use Helmar’s Scrap Dots glue. The trick is to build it as high as you want the dimension, but to add these elements LAST. Then set your work out of the way (on top of the highest bookshelf in my studio) where you won’t lay anything on top it and the cats won’t walk on it. Let it dry for a few hours and it’s good. It will completely set overnight and is now solid. LOVE LOVE LOVE the dimension I can get now.

I am loving the mixed media side of my crafting lately and am trying to do a little with my art every day. I’ve got to find a great place to take pics at my house at any time. I’ve figured out how to upload photos and post blog posts more efficiently, but still have a hard time finding the right time and location to take some great photos first.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Journal Entry 8/4/2011

2011-08-04T15:45:00.001-04:00

This is a page from my art journal today. Just playing around with PanPastels, Creative Workshop Stencils, and some India Ink. The picture was taken with my Hipstamatic app on my IPhone; maybe not the most pro photo, but awfully fun!

Thanks for looking.

Painted Canvas for Mom

2011-08-02T07:35:00.009-04:00

I forgot that I had not shared this with you. This is a painted canvas She Girl that I made for my mom. I need to learn how and when to stop adding stuff. My mom still loved it though, and that’s all that really matters, right?

I had fun playing with different paints, markers and stamps for this one. I’m still looking for the perfect pen that will write over the dried decoupage glue. Do you have any suggestions? I’m thinking I need to consider an ink and nib type pen.

Well, today’s post is short and sweet, but at least I’m posting and sharing something with you.

Thanks for stopping by today,

CHICAGO!

2011-07-29T07:00:00.010-04:00

**** picture heavy (but great pics)– just warning you ***

Being born and raised in Florida most all my life, I rarely have experienced a big city. Paula and I both were country girls walking around the big city of Chicago in awe. We don’t have skyscrapers here. We don’t have subways. And only a few bigger cities have cabs, even then you rarely walk out on the street to hail a cab; you would usually have to call a taxi service and schedule one.

Needless to say, we had a great time. After getting checked in to our hotel, we took a cab to downtown Chicago. Of course, our taxi driver couldn’t speak English really well and I was starting to panic as I couldn’t understand if he was telling us he was taking us to 400 something or that the fare was going to be $400. We finally got there for about $40. Whew!
Our first stop was to find the Marilyn Monroe statue that had just previously been unveiled. One of our scrapping friends, Paula Massie, told us we HAD to go see it. Not knowing what else to do first, this seemed like a great place to start.

Marilyn was not hard to find. At 26 feet tall, she stands out. I took pictures and Paula went to stand underneath for ratio aspect. Can you believe that she was too shy to look up her skirt? I would have looked and I’m kicking myself for not going over there myself to look.

We stopped in a little coffee shop for tea and cranberry scones. While there, we met two sweet young male baristas. They were so willing to sit down with us and give us suggestions of places to go, things to see and places to eat. One was nice enough to write it all out for us and draw little maps. I’m saving that to add to an art journal.

We saw beautiful architecture as well as the more realistic signs of city life.

This stripped bike just cracked us up. It was totally stripped, but is still locked to the pole.

We figured out how to buy a ticket and get on the subway. We even had a little entertainment while waiting for our train.

We took the subway to China Town – Lo Beijing, walked around some more and then ate dinner. By that time, unfortunately, we were overheated, and just wiped out. We had walked quite a bit. Someone would tell us, “It’s only 4 blocks down,” and we calculated that 1 city block is 3 Chicago blocks. So, we walked about 12 blocks for one leg of the adventure that was only to be 4.

We then took the subway back and figured out how to get from the Red line to the Blue line to take us back to Rosemont where we were staying.   I don’t know how people can sleep on the subway and just KNOW when to wake up and get off. I mean some of these people were out cold until right before their stop.
When we got off the train, we realized that the 1 block to our hotel was really about 5 more blocks down a major highway, so we hailed a cab, went back to the hotel, had a few drinks and called it a night.   It was a fun day exploring the city of Chicago.   I think I’d like to visit some big cities more often. I loved the energy of The City.

Thanks for stopping by and touring Chicago with me.

More CHA Eye-Candy

2011-07-27T07:35:00.000-04:00

I must have one of these totes from T!m Holtz Ideology. They are gorgeous in person. Which one do you like? My first one will be the ticket bag. Did you notice I said ‘first’?

These are some new inks by Clear Snap designed with Donna Salazar. These are some of her favorite colors and are supposed to dry slower allowing more time for blending on mixed media surfaces.

Manuscript Pen has taken colored wax and molded them to glue stick sizes. Now they can fit in a glue gun allowing greater control over the product. They have some great seals to go with it, but lots of other ideas are now blooming of what we can do with melted wax on our projects of all types.

I did go look at the new Cricut mini. I think it will be great for those who travel to crops a lot or who might be really cramped for space. It has a much smaller profile. It will only work with Cricut Craft Room software or your Gypsy though. One thing of note: it is really quiet. Nevertheless, I miss the little chirp sound on it. I like that it opens up to see exactly what is going on with the blade too.

Suzanne Dean was in the Score-Pal booth and she showed us the No More Shims embossing mat.

This No More Shims embossing mat is a MUST HAVE on my list. It is a much thicker embossing mat that our tan mats and will go through all the popular embossing machines right now. It gives a deep impression using anything you have already around the house on metal, cardstock, patterned paper, etc. We had a demo where it used pearls, gears, fine detailed lace, mesh, and lots more just to create a textured impression on materials. This is definitely a must see.

Loved the detailed stamps from a new company here called LaBlanche. The only down size to me was that they are on a base as thick as those wooden blocks. This is one of their selling points though. They have their block built in and because it is a foam-type base, you can use your fingers to press down and get a complete full coverage impression. The stamp part itself is a much harder silicone that takes heat quite well. The lower picture was created by pouring hot UTEE directly onto the inked stamp. I can not wait to try that technique. The stamps are very detailed stamps though and they do leave a beautiful clean impression.

Pink Paislee just keeps getting better and better. I was drooling over their (Mist)-A-Bles line.

So, these were a few of my favorite things. I hope you enjoyed the little peeks at what is coming out. I know that I cannot wait for a few of these.

One last picture for you.

I was completely fascinated by this upside down Christmas Tree. Can anyone tell me how to do this successfully and if you have any tips for trying this at home? I’d love to hear your thoughts about this and what you have seen in Blog land about this last Summer CHA that excited or inspired you. Leave me a comment and let me know.

Stop by later as I share a few pics of this little country girl going around the big city of Chicago! Thanks for stopping by today,

CHA Show Floor

2011-07-25T07:30:00.001-04:00

There were so many things that I found of interest at CHA. Here is just a sample.

Studio 490 Art Parts designed by Wendy Vecchi. I am itching to play with these and see what cool things I can create. It was stunning to see these in person.

These were samples from ArtC. Love the stencils and collage parts and I would really love to play with the new line of Davinci paints. They've even created some face stencils for those that are nervous about creating faces on their own.

The Ranger booth. Never lacking in inspiration and absolute yumminess.

Bella Blvd had some lovely papers.

And I love that Unity is now making stamps to coordinate with different lines of papers. Bella Blvd is one of those they have partnered with.

We all love Petallo flowers to ink and mist. Now they have doilies that we can color too!

Loved the products by this new company Hemptique. Their hemp was fabulously packaged and in such great textures and colors.

Don't you love it? I want it all.

Faber-Castell deliciousness.

Lots of eye candy all over. I walked around the first day in awe just looking and then went back in the second day just to take pictures. Check back later as there is more to share.

CHA Star Struck

2011-07-23T15:53:00.002-04:00

I was so excited to attend CHA this year for the first time, and I will admit that I was completely star struck. I have a slew of pictures to share and I saw lots of inspiring works of art and innovative products, but first I thought I'd share my most memorable moments. I was in complete awe to have the chance to actually meet my favorite artists in person and even get my picture with them.

These pictures will be cherished and will definitely be part of CHA mini album in the works.

Julie Fei-Fun Belzer and ME!! She is a continuous source of inspiration with her art journals.

Wendy Vecchi and ME!!! I just love her Art Parts and think she is a magician with them.

ME and Donna Salazar and Paula Beeten. You know I love my Distrezz It All.

T!m Holtz and ME! Need I say more? I can't believe my picture didn't come out with my face beet red. I was just too excited to speak and I can't believe my grin wasn't ear-to-ear.

I will share more pictures from the actual show floor from things I found inspiring and new products I found of interest. I came away with inspiration and the courage to take my hobby a little more seriously, so I am going to make it a priority to post more often.

Thanks for stopping by today.

My classes with Donna Downey

2011-06-28T17:40:00.001-04:00

As I mentioned last week, I was fortunate enough to have recently taken classes with the super talented and funny, Donna Downey. The classes were at She Scrapbooks in The Villages. I went with 3 good friends; Paula, who owns my LSS, A Scrapbook Store and More, Jackie, and Susan.

First of all, The Villages is an adventure in itself. LOTS and I mean LOTS of personalized golf carts.
I didn't know you could have Rolls Royce golf carts. Many had doors, horns, and lots of other bells and whistles. They were everywhere.

She Scrapbooks was a warm and welcoming store with lots of great supplies. We stayed at The Waterfront Inn which was absolutely beautiful and so affordable for the luxury. I would definitely stay there again.

Donna is a super teacher. I love that she encouraged us to find our own style with the techniques she taught us. She also encouraged us to get messy and to go with any mistakes we might make. That was the best thing I got from this class. I've had one of her canvas albums on my shelf for months and have not attempted to actually apply any paint or mists for fear of messing it up or it not being the 'right' thing.

During one of her classes, she had us take advantage of the Florida sunshine to dry our canvases. I don't know how much The Villages appreciated this, but it made for a great photo and lots of residents were walking by trying to figure out what the heck we were doing.

I did finish one 4 x 6 mini canvas album (minus photos).

Here are my friends working so hard on theirs.

And Donna took time out while we were painting to paint an impromptu canvas tote. So cool to see her in action.

She even painted on one of my pages!

And, of course, I enjoyed girl time with my gal pals eating dinner and having a few drinks.

I still have work to finish my Beloved Album and just ordered the perfect prints to put in it, so I'll share that album when it is complete.

Thanks for stopping by,

I am still here

2011-06-23T16:11:00.001-04:00

I have just been so busy. First and foremost, I have been buried in pictures. I'm taking Stacy Jullian's Finding Photo Freedom class and learning so much. It's a big undertaking to get my pics in order. My printed pictures weren't in too bad of order, but still not readily scrap-accessible in a hurry. As for my digital photos, I was drowning in a sea of raw files, jpgs, web-sized jpgs, etc. I have just been soaking in the information and starting to put everything in place. I did decide to install and learn to use Adobe Lightroom. Omgoodness, the best $$$ I've spent for pictures. I still don't know much about how to use it to start making edits for my photos, but just the awesome photo organization is worth it to me.

My coffee table was covered in pictures as I sorted. They are now in nice piles and I'm taking the time to organize them in my binders and photo boxes so I can get back to scrapping.

My digital files are now all organized and I'm in the process of purging (so long overdue) as well as rating and keywording. I'll be uploading photos to print soon. Where are your favorite places to have your photos printed?

In the midst of this, my little baby turned 18. I can't believe it. I have a young adult!

So, I just wanted to take a minute and check in. I'll be sharing more soon. This week I'll share with you some pictures from an awesome weekend with some gal pals when we attended a class taught by Donna Downey. She is an amazing teacher and I came away so inspired to paint and play. Check back later this week for those fun pictures.

Thanks for stopping by today and thank you mostly for sticking with me, even when I don't post for WEEKS! :-)

Doilies and Buttons

2011-05-26T06:40:00.000-04:00

I just got some new stamps and dies. I could not resist the Delightful Doilies and Button Boutique collection from Papertrey Ink. I ordered the coordinating dies so that I could cut out the button card and buttons as well as a variety of doilies. You can see samples of the doily dies under the card. I stamped the doilies on the background PTI cardstock and added a little lace trim from my stash. I die-cut and stamped the buttons and then embossed them with UTEE. A little stamping on the button card and some inking of the edges and Voila!...a vintage button card. Love it!!!! A sentiment from PTI Green Thumb set and some mini pearls and a finished card.

Don't be surprised if you start seeing doilies on a lot of my stuff.

PS. If you purchase the doily dies, make sure to get the punch-out tools. This fabulous tool lets you place your die-cut doily on the tool and rub out all the little punched out holes in a snap. SOOOO much easier than trying to poke them all out one at a time. Worth the extra few bucks if you'll use these dies often. Each die has its own punch out tool available for purchase.

Thanks for stopping by today,

Happy Birthday, Baby!

2011-05-24T00:13:00.000-04:00

Except she is no longer a baby. My little baby girl turns 18 today. They grow up so very fast and childhood is gone in a blink of an eye. I made this card for her to celebrate today. Inside, I wrote about how I'll always see her as my little girl, even though she is now considered a legal adult. I just thought this little girl on the card was too cute and would express some of those thoughts for me. She did get some other great gifts too! :-)

18 years have just flown by, but I'm so proud of my dear daughter. She's a good kid with a good heart. I was very fortunate to be able to homeschool her for her entire grade-school education. I will cherish all the quality time we have spent together and all the places we've been able to visit and all the things we have learned together. She has now been working on her AA degree here at a local college and will graduate with her AA next year. Sage is also a great help to me around the house and will one day be able to do a great job running her own home. Sage is compassionate, somewhat patient, and loyal. She has a witty sense of humor. Sage LOVES scary movies, music, and make-up. Her face and hair are always done, but she balances it with dressing down in blue jeans and t-shirts 95% of the time. Rarely do we get her to wear a dress. She wants to move on and study Professional Make-up artistry, so we are looking at some reputable schools for that. She also wants to finish her BA degree in English. I know the time is coming soon for her to spread her wings and fly, but for today, I'm going to hug my baby girl and enjoy my time with her while she is still home!

For the card, I used papers and embellies from my yummy Scarlet Lime kit, Spellbinders Grand Label 1, stamp sentiment from Papertrey Ink, as well asVintage Duo PTI ink and Memento Ink.
Thanks for stopping by today,

Spellbinder Card Frenzy

2011-05-20T15:19:00.020-04:00

I decided to take some time and learn how to more efficiently use my Spellbinder Nestabilities. I did take an online class at My Creative Classroom to learn some new techniques too. I am much more confident now in cutting and embossing with my Nestabilities and made a bunch of cards. I just now had the time to take some pics and upload them. You can click on any of the pictures for a closer look. Lots of layers witih stitching and inking and little hidden details.

I was even more excited that most of these I made from my scrap piles and left-over kits and I was able to replenish my card stash. I think I'm on a roll and am going to go make some more cards.

Thanks for stopping by,

Mother's Day with Florals Embellished

2011-05-12T07:05:00.000-04:00

I am loving the beautiful images in Florals Embellished. And don't miss all the phrases dedicated to your mother and/or grandmother that are available on this cartridge. I'm so glad I added this one to my collection. I love all the layers and am in love with the detailed silhouettes.

Join me next Tuesday, May 17, at A Scrapbook Store & More as we create this lovely Mother's Day layout with your Cricut. This layout will come together pretty quick, but has some wonderful little details and a few techniques that you don't want to miss. You need to see this layout in person to truly see how pretty and layered it is. The class size will be limited this time, so call now.

This class will be using Florals Embellished Cricut Cartridge; Joann Fabrics and Michael's both have Cricut cartridges on sale right now, so don't miss out. You will need this cartridges and your Cricut. Papers will be supplied. You can find the rest of the supply list in the store's newsletter. If you aren't getting the newsletter, let Paula know.

A SCRAPBOOK STORE & MORE
6961 Hancock Drive
US Highway 1
Port St. Lucie,, FL 34952
772-489-0655
http://www.ascrapbookstore.net
ascrapbookstore@gmail.com

Have a great day,

Sassy Lil Sketches 28th Reveal

2011-04-28T06:00:00.007-04:00

Have you checked out some of the fabulous sketches and layouts designed with these at Sassy Lil' Sketches? If you haven't, you should definitely check them out. This team of designers has been rocking the layouts. Here is mine for the 28th sketch. Visit Sassy Lil' Sketches to see the original sketch and my team designers' layouts created from the sketch. I used Thickers for the titling, but all the other cuts were designed on my Gypsy. The papers were all from one of my Scarlet Lime kits. Love my Scarlet Lime goodness every month.

I've been experimenting and trying to add a little doodling to some of my designs. Here is a little closer peak at some of my doodling this time.

If you participate with our sketches, link it up at Sassy Lil' Sketches for a chance to win something fabulous from our sponsors this month.

Our paper sponsor:
SUPER customer service and super fast shipping.  I highly recommend them.

Our digi sponsor:
Thanks for stopping by today. 

Embellish Your Cricut Cuts

2011-04-26T07:30:00.022-04:00

Good morning. Once again, I am honored to be a guest designer today at She's a Sassy Lady.

Today's project is a beginner project as well as a reminder, and some tips, about embellishing our Cricut cuts. We have so many adorable as well as elegant images available for us to cut with our Cricut(s), but sometimes we just want to give them a little more umph, pizazz, bling, pop, pow... you get the idea. There are so many ways to do this, but here are just a few different ways to embellish your cuts as well as a big tip for making the process a little easier.

For this card above, I positioned my layers on my Gypsy for easy placement of my papers and then arranged my papers on my mat accordingly. Notice that for the tub, I actually used a sticky back piece of metal from Making Memories. That is an embellishment right there. You could also use plumbers aluminum tape from the hardware store, but you'll need to vary your settings as it is thicker. When I cut the metal used here, I was able to pause my Gypsy just before this one cut and adjust my blade depth and pressure to perform a "kiss" cut as you would vinyl. This way I only cut the very thin metal layer rather than the sticky back tape.

Once your cuts are complete, leave them on the mat, but clean up all the negative pieces and weed all your little cuts. To do this, you really need to use your tools here. Here are some of my favs that I reach for every time. You need to take a few minutes to clean up your cuts sometimes. As much as we would love to get perfect cuts each and every time, we all know that we don't. Just a few minutes of your time here will make it look like you do though.

Use your poky dental pick to weed out those little bity inside pieces. Again, notice that I am leaving ALL my essential layer pieces ON the mat where they cut. This ensures that I don't lose a piece and/or can remember where each layer goes. How many times have you cut out all those little pieces and then lost the dot for the i or a little layer for those characters? This way you won't lose those pieces.

When a piece just does not cut out all the way, don't be scared of using that X-acto knife right on your mat. You don't have to saw into this cardstock; you usually only have to break a few fibers of the paper to release a cut. NOTE: Don't have a cappuccino right before this step. LOL

Finish weeding all your layers before embellishing or assembling.

You probably noticed that some of these pieces are very tiny! I want to add some glitter, flock, and beads to these cuts also. If I moved these off the mat, I would definitely lose a few and I would have a very hard time embellishing these. So I now glitter/flock/etc these tiny pieces right on my mat. If it is a larger piece, you could very easily take it off your mat and it would be fine and that is what we do for most of our cuts, but here is a way that we can add something to those bity layers.

When I am layering images with detailed layers, I prefer to use a liquid glue that dries clear. There are many out there, so pick your favorite. By using a liquid glue, I have a few moments that I can add my embellishing and when assembling the layers, I can still slide it into place before it dries.

For this layer, I wanted to flock with Sparkly Fluff on the washcloth, glitter the water splashes, and add glass beads for my bubbles. I used just a tiny bit and did one at a time...again, right on the mat. I used my finger to press the flock, glitter, and beads into the glue on the paper. By using only a little, I don't have a lot of waste and it dries rather quickly too.

While that finishes drying, I move on to start assembling my layered images...right on the mat.

I like to use a super fine black pen and outline the eyes, smiles, and little cut marks on many of my images. If your background placement cut is black, this just gives your cuts a more 'finished' look. It hides those little imperfect cuts many times.

Now I can add my little embellished pieces. When these are all layered and dried, you can then place these on your shadow image. Once the entire images is dry (it only takes a few minutes) you can remove your design and apply it to your final project. Once it was on my card, you'll notice above that I added a little cheek and ear color with my Copics and a few highlights to the final image as well.

When your layers have been removed from you mat, use your scraper to scrape off any bits of paper, glitter, etc from your mat. When I use glitter and stuff, I will also wipe my mat with a baby wipe. I do not do this for just paper usually, unless it is black paper because black paper always leaves fibers on my mats.

By using that mat you've already got out, it makes assembling your project so much easier, doesn't it?

Here are some other options for embellishing those cuts. Notice that I just embossed only one layer of this image with my Cuttlebug Japanese Scales folder. I also added just a little bit of Stickles to the rest of the fish and rubbed it in with my fingers. I wanted just a little shimmer here like fish scales, not a thicker Stickled layer. And, finally, don't forget to use a googly eye whenever possible! LOL.

I know many of you have great ideas for embellishing those cuts, but maybe my mat trick and my pen tip will help you too.

Thanks for stopping by today.

She Finds Joy in She Art

2011-04-17T17:22:00.001-04:00

I finally decided to make the time to take the She Art class with Christy Tomlinson. I have had so much fun the last few days. I am realizing how much I miss playing in paints and getting messy and building texture. I am always drawn to scrapbook pages with lots of dimension and texture, but have shied away from that lately because I've been more in the mood to just 'get her done' rather than create. Well, this weekend, I cheated. I have projects and Cricut class projects to work on and I put it all away and dug out ALL my paints, stencils, inks, markers, stamps, etc, and played. And I am so happy right now, even though my work did not come out as I wanted it to. I learned all along the way and I had fun; that is really all that matters. I enjoyed this so much, I signed up for Christy's next art journaling workshop, She Had Three Hearts. Here is my first She Art piece. I made it for my daughter, Sage. There are a few things on the canvas that make it personal to her and that makes it special. I do think you will be seeing more paint from me.

Thank you for visiting me today.

Sympathy Card - Loss of Pet

2011-04-03T22:15:00.000-04:00

If you have any pets, you know that it is a very sad thing to lose a member of your family. One of DH's coworkers and friends lost a beloved companion just this week, and DH asked me to make a card for them. I am learning to use my Gypsy, Imagine, and Expression together and be able to put something together quite quickly.

I used the new Damask cartridge. This cartridge has a lot of designs and some great shapes. I selected the images I wanted to use and then sized them to a 4.5" card - including the envelope. I edited them to fill with colors and patterns from the Audrey Imagine cartridge. What a perfect pair these two make together. I love that the Imagine scales the patterns in conjunction with the size objects I use.

I also love that I can add all the objects I need to queau at one time and the Imagine figures out how many mats I will need. Granted, I will love this even more when we can use our Gypsy to move our images where we want to save even more paper.

I wanted to ink around the inside of the card as well as color some ribbon. Broken China Distress Ink was the perfect match for this.

For my inside sentiment, I knew that I wanted to stick with the same damask pattern, but use the silhouette feature. I created the sentiment in word and printed on paper left over after cutting out my card base using my inkjet printer. I cut the scrap paper down to make straight edges and sized my word document to match.

This is where I used my Expression. Still love those Mode feature buttons. I decided to use Center Point to center my sentiment inside the silhouette images. Don't forget that it will print sideways. I have now learned to always line up my image when using Center Point and then "air cut". Sorry, can't remember where I originally learned this technique, but the process is to turn your pressure all the way down to minimum and change your blade setting to 1. With standard cardstock loaded, these settings will not cut into your paper at all. I then line up my blade in the center of my design and press cut. While it is 'air cutting', I watch my blade to ensure that it not only centers my cut where desired, but fits and is oriented correctly. Some shapes may need to be adjusted from dead center of your project. I fat heart, for instance, will probably look better if the object you want relatively centered is slightly higher in the heart than lower near the point. Anyhow, after 'air cutting', I can make any adjustments to the blade starting point and/or size. When I am comfortable with my centering and sizing, I adjust my settings back to work with shape and material being cut and officially cut the image.

Here is the final cut, centering my sentiment within a silhouette damask image. Isn't this great?

I used the Broken China ink again to dye my seam binding ribbon and finished putting my card together.

Here is the inside of my card inked and finished. I inked the edges of my silhouette image as well, and stamped a little paw-print with the same ink.

Thanks for stopping by today.

New Hobby for Hubby

2011-04-01T22:08:00.000-04:00

So, my husband had started a new hobby and it has been great for him. It has been great for us too in that it has given us something to do together. As DD gets closer to flying the coop and is constantly "out", we are finding ourselves with lots of time together. It's a new thing for us and it's almost like dating again.

And some of you may have read in February that DH had a birthday. He turned the big 40 and decided to get his health and vigor back before its gone for good. LOL His process for this has been to start Strongman training. Some of you may have seen this on TV where they are pulling trucks and lifting cars, picking up stones and logs, and just being strong. It has also created an opportunity for DH to have some guy time. He works in an office with mostly all women and then comes home to all women (except for a little cockatiel on the back porch).

This last weekend, I went with him to Augusta to watch a Strongman competition and cheer his trainer who was competing. It was cold and wet, but it was actually a good time. I got to just play and take pictures. So, here are a few pictures that I took. Now, I honestly can't wait for DH to start competing and be cheering for him on the sidelines. Now you know what I've been doing with some of my time away from work, home and studio. Most of these are of his trainer, Tony Montgomery, from Samson's Gym.

This was just funny. They got helmets to wear for the winners, but they were too small for his head!

Sassy Lil Sketches 28th Reveal

2011-03-28T13:05:00.000-04:00

I'm a little late today getting this posted so it will be a short post today, but today is the reveal for the 28th Sassy Lil' Sketches. I was excited for a sketch that worked perfectly for some older Polaroids that I've wanted to scrap. These are pics of Sage when she was a little girl. She was about 1 yo in all of these pictures.

Here is the sketch from Sassy Lil' Sketches

This month, not only did we have another great sketch, but our team was sponsored by Nikki Sivils. This layout was created using some of her new line, Max and Mollie. These colors and images were just so "stinkin' cute"!!! It was perfect for these pictures and this sketch. So, make sure you check out our sponsors and, of course, Sassy Lil' Sketches. If you play along with any of our sketches this month, you could be eligible to win some great prizes.

www.nikkisivils.com

We also had a digital sponsor this month.

www.sassystudiodesigns.blogspot.com

Thanks for stopping by today,

IMAGINE a Magnolia Easter

2011-03-22T07:31:00.002-04:00

Good morning. I think we are seeing signs of Spring in many places. It almost feels like our Spring has already come and gone here in S. Florida, but the weather has actually been pleasant, so I shouldn't complain.

Today is my Guest Designer spot for She's A Sassy Lady. I wanted to create some happy Spring home decor, so here is my project today. I was quite excited about using my Imagine ALOT for this project and being able to combine a Magnolia stamped image in my project. This post is picture heavy, so enjoy.

I was excited to take a Copic class with Suzanne Dean a few weeks ago and have not had time to post about it yet. I love all things paper crafty, but have been neglecting my Copics and many stamps. So I'm looking for ways to combine them more often. I wanted some Magnolia stamps for quite a while and finally ordered a very small few of them to play with from Magnolia -licious. Even better that many are the newer Easter/Spring stamps. I'm hoping this will motivate me to actually use them before the season has come and gone.

My inspiration started with this Tilda with Eggs in Apron stamp and a framed scene done by Suzanne. You can see her original HERE.

I colored my little Tilda with a whole bunch of colors and added some Stickles. I also added Diamond Glaze to her shoes so they would look like patent leather and a very thin bit of glaze to shine the eggs. Don't you just want to go egg hunting with her? I took my time, (and wore my reader glasses.... LOL ...) to do a lot of fussy cutting and cut her all out.

For my framed scene, I envisioned a hillside with little chickens by her feet and it grew from there. I really liked many of the colors on my Imagine Cartridge Lori's Garden. It was so great to create a scene using colors and patterns that all coordinated and being able to print and cut ALL of my images (except Tilda, of course.)

When creating my hillside, though, I did not like the color green on the pattern I chose, but I did like the pattern very much. Thanks to my Imagine, I was able to alter my pattern.

This is a close up of the original pattern as designed. The green was too muted and olive for a great hillside.

By going into to edit colors, I was able to define the color that I wanted. I wanted to print a few pages with varying degrees of green so that I could have a layered look going from a darker green to a lighter more yellow green in front. After choosing my original color and changing how much gray was in it, I printed a solid green paper edge-to-edge, directly from the Imagine.

Remember that you can choose the overspray amount. I used a medium to ensure coverage from edge to edge. Just don't forget to clean your overspray when done.

Since I was putting mine right back in to print again with the same color family, I did not clean my overspray yet. I put the green cardstock right back in the machine and then chose my pattern paper again and printed the pattern right over the green. I did this two more times, slightly changing the green each time to a lighter and slightly more yellow color.

After all were printed, I had varying shades of the original pattern in much greener hues. You can see the original there to the left. I used the wavy pattern lines of the pattern as a guide to cut out my hills and then layered these with the hills and valleys being off center just a bit for more interest. Some hills I had to go back and cut on a lower line than the others - again for a more pleasing hill/valley effect. Doesn't that make you start looking at those patterns a little different?

Now that my Gypsy has the Imagine application, I could begin my design work. One thing this application is greatly missing is the ability to move and manipulate our images where we want them and the ability to weld and hide-contour using the Gypsy and Imagine together. I am learning to work within these limitations to a degree. For this design, I used my Gypsy Application on my Gypsy to create a sketch of my design. I used a house from handyman. Do you notice how I borrowed a paper doll to act as a 'stand-in' for my Tilda? hee hee! :-) All other designs are from Country Life. By creating my sketch, I was able to get a better grasp of the sizes and proportions needed for my design. I only worried about the base images for the sketch, not any of the layers for the images. Once I had everything laid out like I wanted, I took notes of the sizes of each image and wrote these down. I saved this file and exited the Gypsy Application and opened the Imagine Application.

With the Imagine Application open, I was able to start my design coloring. If you hold down the Imagine cartridge button you can select which Imagine cartridge you want to use. Then hold the standard Cricut cartridge button down until you can select the linked cartridge you want to use. I do truly appreciate the "Apply All" feature now on our Imagine and Imagine application. This allowed me to guarantee that my sizes were all of relative height with one another. I first chose my images and placed them all on the mat. I then chose "Apply All". This gives you the option to apply the same size and/or pattern to your pieces. I was only worried about the sizes being consistent. After the sizes were all the same "relative" height, I could go back in and edit the color for each one. I tried to use colors all from the color palette on Lori's Garden or a basic neutral color ie the black. Once my colors for each layer were chosen, I loaded my Imagine mat with white cardstock and cut the images.

I was able to follow the same thing for my next set of images. When I went to cut this hen, I flipped the paper that I had cut the house from and used the bottom side.

When sizing and cutting the next set of images for my other little hen, I then selected Load Last so that the Imagine application would move my images over. After filling each one with desired color, I cut again.

I used Load Last once more to set up my wildflowers and grass images and printed and cut one more time.

Here you can see my paper on the mat. Starting with a white piece of paper, I chose print and cut for the houses on one end, and then flipped it for all my other cuts. By utilizing the Load Last feature, I was able to maximize the use of this one piece of cardstock and colored 21 different images 21 different colors. I went back and added the sheep following the same process once more.

Look how tiny I can cut with my Imagine. I still love and use my Expression quite often, but honestly do not get such tiny cuts from my Expression. I seem to reach for my Imagine when I need detailed cuts now.

After all the pieces above were cut, I layered and glued them all together. I dressed many of the pieces with Stickles and/or Copic Spica pens for more dazzle and bling.

I followed the same steps as above to create my banner and used Load Last again to cut the shadowed banners right behind the first set. Another thing I love about my Imagine and filling images with patterns is that the Imagine is smart enough to scale down the pattern to fit the image. Look again how small these cuts and patterns became. Only the H got a little curled, but came out just fine when I removed it from the mat. Especially since I wasn't using the H itself only the negative space in the banner.

I decided to glitter my banner shadow pieces. I used my Xyron Sticker maker and ran the banner shadow pieces face side down to adhere the adhesive to the the front. This is the best way to apply glitter to a die-cut that is small enough. I used a Sparkling Ice glitter that would not add or change the color, only provide some glitter. I'm sure you've seen this before, but notice that I use coffee filter to glitter in. I can then fold it and pour the glitter right back in its jar. I also LOVE and use Swiffer cloths to clean up any spilled glitter and/or embossing powder. They also work great for getting smudges off your photos. I buy the big box of refills and keep a box in my studio along with the stack of coffee filters.

A closer view all layered. Tiny little banner. Isn't it just cuteness?

I even decided to be brave and run my banner through the sewing machine with adhesive, glitter, and all. I sewed right along the top edge. I added a few twine bows at the ends and each side of the spacer banner.

Here is a closer peek. Notice that I also embossed the sheep! I think they are so adorable. Since it was going behind glass in a frame and already has many layered images, I only used some thin pop dots on Tilda and the front hen by her feet.

I embossed the roof of the house as well as smudging the chimney with some ink and doodling some curtains in the windows. I also used The Copic Spica pens again to add some more grassy doodling to ground my house a little more.

Some little flowers from my stash glued to the frame finished my project. Here is another look. Note, I did remove the glass from the frame to take the pictures because it was creating too much glare, but the glass is back on and it now sits in my living room. I hope you enjoyed my project today, maybe learned something, but most importantly found a little inspiration.

Thanks for visiting today,

Gypsy and Imagine Update

2011-03-14T06:30:00.046-04:00

If you haven't heard yet, there is a new update available for your Gypsy and the Imagine. These will also require a new update to your Cricut Sync software. The great thing is that if you do not have the Imagine, you can choose NOT to install those parts of the update.

To learn more details about the update and directions, please click HERE. This will take you to the Provo Craft Community where where Chris has provided the steps to expect with the updates.

For my Gypsy class students, you should all be updated to just prior to this point, so you will just need to plug in your Gypsy and run your Cricut Sync software and follow the on-screen directions. Remember to exit your program(s) on your Gypsy so that you are on the start screen and you may also need to turn off your Virus scanner while updating. Cricut Sync will ask you to update the Cricut Sync software first. Say yes and replace the previous version. Don't walk away for too long while updating as there will be times you need to restart your machine(s). Don't do anything else while updating just to protect yourself if you turn that off, and it may even help the update run a little quicker. This update will take a while, especially if you are also doing the Imagine updates for the Gypsy.

It took about 40 minutes or so to update the first part without the Imagine updates. With the Imagine updates on the Gypsy, it took me at least another hour. I had one hang-up when it got stuck on 100% complete, but wouldn't finish. I left it that way for a long time and finally just stopped the update and reran the Cricut Sync. It then finished updating the Imagine part of the Gypsy update.

I also updated my Imagine with no problems with the update itself. I plugged my Imagine up to my laptop and ran Cricut Sync again. It did hog a lot of my CPU while updating and slowed down other things I was trying to do at the same time. Again, don't do anything else on the computer if you don't need to. (I needed to be). After the Imagine was updated, I followed the directions provided on the same message board as above for syncing my Imagine Cartridges with my Gypsy. These took quite a bit of time as well, but went very smoothly following the directions found HERE.

Now, I get to play around with it some and see what it can do. I am still disappointed that we can't weld with our Gypsy different images and then cut on the Imagine. Even if we could weld regular cartridge images and cut with the Imagine, I would be happier. I would understand that we can't weld and alter some of the Imagine images, but the regular ones???? Hopefully, they will find a way to resolve this soon. I'm sure they are working on a solution.

If you are one of my students and have any issues updating, please let me know before our next Gypsy class. I can meet you if needed to try and resolve any issues beforehand.

Thanks for stopping by,

It's My Birthday ...

2011-03-13T11:32:00.001-04:00

And I have nothing to cry about. It's turning out to be a great day.

*** EDITED TO ADD...Yes, I am spoiled...and loving it..... :-) )

I have a wonderful, thoughtful husband and a sweet daughter who are always looking out for me and are so supportive of all that I do and would like to do. Today, I get to play in my studio as long as I want. Maybe, I can even get some projects done and pictures taken to better update my blog.

Here is one of my birthday gifts. This one is so very special. It is a Pandora bracelet and I have wanted one for quite a while now. They picked out four charms to start it with and each one has a special meaning to me and I'm so touched that they put that much thought into each one. And it's an everlasting gift so I'll be getting more bead charms for other holidays. SWEET!!!!

I also got tickets to go to Downtown Disney to see La Nouba Cirque de Soleil. I am so excited about this. Again, I've been wanting to go for a long time and just haven't made it yet. DH got some amazing seats and I get to go next week. Woo Hoo!!!

And finally, to top it all off, I got a new mattress and a new bed. It will still take a few weeks for my bed to be delivered, but the mattress came Friday. We finally decided to move into a King size bed. It took over a week of shopping and laying on more beds than I can count, but I've had two great nights of undisturbed sleep and am waking refreshed and rested. I am so happy.

So, I have been missing lately. From December through March is busy season for my work. I work as a transcriptionist for the Radiology Department of a local hospital here. During the winter months, we have a LOT of snowbirds and this season seems to be extraordinarily more busy. I'm guessing it's all those blizzards running people down here. I'm fortunate that I do get to work from home.

This is my work office, separate from my studio. And this is where you will find me most days. I sit here for hours Monday - Friday attached to this spot by my headsets, listening to doctors and typing under deadlines. Although, I have a great ergonomic set-up, there are many days that I just don't want to get back in front of a keyboard after working. Unfortunately, that means I'm not good at keeping up with my blog posts and my forums. Nevertheless, I appreciate every one of my followers for hanging in there with me and all the supportive comments I do receive. Thank you for your patience and encouragement.

I hope you also have a wonderful day today. Thank you to all of you that have sent me messages, texts, cards, phone calls, etc wishing me a Happy Birthday. That, my friends, has been the icing on my Birthday Day; the love from the friendships I have made over many years as well as those more recently.

Thanks for stopping by,

28th Sassy Lil' Sketches - Reveal Day

2011-02-28T06:30:00.004-05:00

Good morning. This may be one of my favorite layouts. Maybe it was the overall simplicity, or maybe because it is such a special set of pictures for me. This is my layout for the 28th Sassy Lil' Sketches team. After choosing my photos, I decided to print my photos in black & white for this layout. After choosing my papers, I decided to edit the photos again and give them a blue filter. I LOVE the effect this gave.

This was the sketch I had to start with.

My journaling reads, "As youngsters, they may seem like arch enemies at times, but as they grow older the ties that bind them become as strong as the love between them." This was just a random quote I found online that really worked for the four of us. I layered a journaling die cut on a separate die cut with pop dots. I also outlined the back die cut with Stickles.

This shows some of the dimension a little better. Love that Bo Bunny trim.

I wish I had pictures of the four of us together as kids. For now, I'll just have to hope we can get together more often for pictures with the four of us as we continue to get older from here.

Papers used on this layout is from the On Holiday collection by The Girls Paperie. Large flower is layered Prima flowers. Buttons are PaperTrey Ink. Chipboard Alpha by Pink Paislee. Die cuts are by Crate Paper and rub-on is Kaisercraft.

Don't forget to play along with one or more of the sketches this month for a chance to win some fabulous prizes from Expressions Vinyl and Lauretta's Digital Stamps. You can see the other February Sketches and link up with us at Sassy Lil' Sketches. Can't wait to see what you do with this sketch.

Thanks for stopping by,

Tuesday's Misted Sassy Canvas

2011-02-22T07:30:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone.  It's me again, Cher, from Cheryl's Window and I am very excited to share my project with you, and I'm going to share it with you with a mini blog hop.   Today, I am honored to be a guest designer at She's a Sassy Lady as well as at Tuesday Treats. My assigned dates just happened to coincide, so with the OK from both Sheila and Pam, we decided to make this a little fun and turn it into a mini hop, basically a bounce!

This was an exciting project for me to create and I truly hope you find some inspiration from it.   It all started because I was really drawn to some of the popular subway art out there, but I knew I wanted to do something just a little different and I wanted to add some color and pop.   I was able to achieve this with my Gypsy, some vinyl, a canvas and some Glimmer Mists.

So bounce around these three blogs today to see my final project come together.

We started over at Tuesday Treats with my design work and moved over to She's A Sassy Lady to see the background start coming together. Now, I'm going to put all the pieces together to finish my project.
If you happened to start here, please bounce back over to Tuesday Treats to see how this project started.

My design work is complete. My background is ready to finish and top with my vinyl layering.

I took the colors I chose to mist my canvas with and started misting the top with the lighter color and progressively misted the others ending with the darkest color on the bottom. NOTE: Canvas is porous and the mists are very wet. So, from previously experimenting on a trading card size canvas, I knew that the vinyl/mist combo would not create sharply defined masked images. That was ok, because I really liked the softer watercolor look it provided.

So, this is the completed background. But, the project is still not done.

This is another shot of my WORDS layer after all the words were grouped together and then the whole block was then moved up to the edge to save on vinyl again. I did not change any of the spacing between words here. These were all placed exactly as I wanted them to be on my final project. I only moved the GROUP of words to the upper edge of my mat. I loaded the vinyl on my 12x24 mat and connected it to my Cricut. Using the same 'kiss cut' and procedures as described at She's a Sassy Lady, I cut out my words.

I weeded all the background vinyl off my backing. And if you look closely, you will notice the y in photography is missing. Had to cut that again since I threw it away removing the negative vinyl. :-)

I layered the transfer tape over the edges so that I could peel all my words up together. You'll notice the y is now in place. I love this transfer tape on a roll and that I can just tear it off as needed. Expressions Vinyl has great prices on this and you can find their link in my left sidebar. I did need an extra set of hands here since this project was so long. DH was willing to provide a little assitance to keep me from making a mess and sticking to everything.

I centered my entire word block as desired on my canvas and started rubbing in place. Be a little careful here because the canvas has some give and there is nothing firm directly behind the canvas in the center. Carefully remove the transfer tape at the same angle described at She's a Sassy Lady for this project, making sure you don't leave a letter behind. We don't want any orphan words or designs.

To ensure better adhesion of the vinyl, I flipped my canvas over and burnished the back of the canvas too. This vinyl application tool can also be found at Expressions Vinyl.

Here is another view of my wall where I placed my canvas. You can see my wine wall to the left. Did I mention that I love vinyl? You can scroll back to the top to see the final canvas a little closer. I really wish I could get the shimmer to photoraph better. It is subtle but gorgeous.

I decided to take the small chair out of my studio and place it here. It looks so nice. Now I just need a floor lamp and a little bitty side table for me to rest a cup of coffee or tea on.

So, I hope you enjoyed the little blog bounce today and visited Tuesday Treats and She's a Sassy Lady as well. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Valentines Day

2011-02-14T06:30:00.000-05:00

I hope you all have a lovely Valentine's Day. Here is a card I created using the very first sketch from Sassy Lil' Card Sketches.

And here is the sketch. Sassy Lil' Sketches became popular enough that they were able to create a separate blog for card sketches and designs. So stop over and check out the very first sketch and keep coming back to see the new ones each week. And don't forget to link up your cards and layouts when you use any of the Sassy Lil' Sketches. Each time you submit either a card or layout, your chances for winning monthly prizes are increased. Woo hooo!!!

This card was also created with some scraps from a previous project/kit so it meets another card toward my yearly scrappy card goal from a challenge I am participating in at Sassy Lil' Sketches Forum. The little tag, though, is a download from Miss Cutiepie.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have a good one.

You're the Corndog...

2011-02-02T23:12:00.000-05:00

Dear Hubby was kidding around the other day and made the comment that he was the corndog in a world of wieners and I immediately thought what a cute card that would make, but I improvised hotdogs for my phrase instead!! LOL

Here is one example. I made the card by using a balloon as the corndog and an "I" as the stick. The balloon and "I" came from George and Basic Shapes. Of course, I had to add a winking smiley from Smiley Cards. And the mustard is a little ricrac shape from Plantin' Schoolbook coated with some yellow Glass Effects by Viva Decor. This was back to the basics with my cartridges.

This card also meets a challenge for #100 Sketch for Card Patterns as well as my Scrap Challenge Cards over at Sassy Lik' Sketches Forum. Everything except for the card base was made from scraps. The newspaper type print is even recycled from a shopping bag from my LSS. I've been saving them and cutting them up for different projects.

Now, one more surprise for those that have read to the end! Unfortunately, I haven't been contacted by the winner for the Picture Keeper from last week's blog hop and I have, therefore, been asked to pick a new winner. The new winner is:

QC Kelsey said...

That little birdy is too cute!
I'm a new Follower.
Hip Hopping Along ...

January 24, 2011 1:37 PM

Congratulations QC Kelsey. Please email me with your address at cherylswindow@gmail.com so that we can get your Picture Keeper out to you ASAP.

Thank you all for stopping by today,